Manchester United v Celta Vigo preview: No new injury concerns for Jose Mourinho
Thursday 11 May 2017 20:08, UK
Jose Mourinho reported no new injury concerns for Manchester United as his side look to secure a place in the Europa League final.
The Premier League club already have a 1-0 advantage in the tie thanks to Marcus Rashford's strike in the first leg at the Balaidos last Thursday.
It also gives United a potentially crucial away goal heading into the second leg as they eye a spot in the Stockholm showpiece on May 24.
In the pre-match press conference Mourinho said: "For the club, it's very important to be in a European final and to fight for the only trophy that the club has never won. It's a long journey - this is match number 14 and we are going to fight hard.
"In terms of motivation, we [Man Utd and Celta] are even. For Celta it's, in their words, 'the most important match of their history'.
"My feelings on it are it is the most important match for us. It doesn't matter what happened before, what is important is what's next."
For Celta, being behind in the tie is something they have experience of, having progressed from two of their five European knockout ties after losing the first leg at home, including this season's round of 32 tie with Shakhtar Donetsk.
However, the La Liga club have lost their last four European matches against English sides with their last victory coming against Aston Villa in 2000.
Team news
Marouane Fellaini is available for United as his suspension only applies to domestic matches, while Antonio Valencia trained on the eve of the game having missed Sunday's defeat at Arsenal.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out with a long-term knee injury, while Marcos Rojo (knee), Luke Shaw (foot) and Tim Fosu-Mensah (shoulder) will be sidelined for the rest of the season along with Ashley Young (hamstring).
Celta manager Eduardo Berizzo will be given an injury boost with the return of Pablo Hernandez - known as Tucu - who has been cleared by medical staff for selection.
Berizzo should have a full strength side at his disposal with only long-term absentee Giuseppe Rossi expected to miss out as he continues his injury rehabilitation in the US.
Opta stats
Manchester United's 1-0 win in the first leg was the first time these sides had ever faced one another in European competition.
This is also the first time that Celta Vigo have reached the semi-final stage of a UEFA Cup/Europa League campaign, they had been eliminated at the quarter-final stage three times previously.
Manchester United have progressed from all 18 of their European knockout ties in which they won the first leg away from home (including qualifiers).
The Spanish club's five-game unbeaten run came to an end in the first leg (W4 D1); United however come into this game on a nine-match unbeaten streak in the Europa League (W7 D2).
Celta Vigo have scored in all six of their matches on the road so far in the 2016/17 Europa League campaign; three of their last four such fixtures have ended in 0-2 wins for the Spanish side.
Marcus Rashford has scored in back-to-back Europa League appearances for Manchester United; failing to score in nine games in the competition prior to this.
Sergio Romero has kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the Europa League this season (7); he has recorded the best save percentage of anyone to make 10+ saves in this Europa League campaign (89%).
Charlie's predictions
I wasn't surprised by the team Jose Mourinho went with on Sunday but I was surprised with just how negative he was, especially when you consider there probably wasn't too much difference in the values of the two sides' line-ups.
He now has the pressure on him because he's the one who has put the eggs in this Europa League basket, although he'll probably get the last laugh with two trophies from a team that has not been very impressive.
They'll have to be more adventurous here because the Old Trafford fans demand that, especially after he did his new friend Arsene Wenger a big favour!
They'll bring Marcus Rashford back to add his pace to Antony Martial's and they'll be able to be patient and pick Celta Vigo off on the counter-attack.
Charlie predicts: 3-1 and Rashford to score first - 33/1 with Sky Bet
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Betting
Celta Vigo are up against odds of 5/1 to qualify and 19/4 to win on the night with 4/7 outright favourites Manchester United also 4/7 with Sky Bet to reach the final with another victory. A 1-0 Celta win and extra-time is a 14/1 chance, with Jose Mourinho's men 40/1 to progress in added time and 100/1 to do so via penalties.
Marcus Rashford is the 7/2 favourite in the first goalscorer betting while Iago Aspas is considered the visitors' main threat at 15/2 to break the deadlock.
